The World of Psychology Wood and Wood Health and Stress

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The World of PsychologyWood and WoodHealth and
Stress

• Chapter 14

http//www.stresstips.com/
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TWO APPROACHES TO HEALTH AND ILLNESS

• biomedical model
• A perspective that focuses on illness rather than
  on health, explaining illness in terms of
  biological factors without regard to
  psychological and social factors.
• biopsychosocial model
• A perspective that focuses on health as well as
  illness and holds that both are determined by a
  combination of biological, psychological, and
  social factors.
• health psychology
• The field concerned with the psychological
  factors that contribute to health, illness, and
  recovery.

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Personal Communication

• One of the MDs Ive worked with made the
  following observation
• When my father was in medical school, he was
  taught that the cause of illness death was
  infection.
• When I was in medical school, I was taught the
  cause of illness death was chronic illness.
• In 30 years of medical practice, I have come to
  believe that dad was right. The cause of illness
  death is infection.

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What is health psychology?

• The field within psychology devoted to
  understanding psychological influences on how
  people stay healthy, why they become ill, and how
  they respond when they do get ill
• Health psychologists study psychological factors
  associated with health and illness, and they
  promote interventions that foster good health and
  aid recovery from illness.

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How would you define stress?

• Is stress
• something in the environment?
• a physiological or psychological reaction that
  occurs within a person?
• something we should avoid at all costs?

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Different ways to View Stress

• Researchers either
• emphasize the physiological effects of stress
• focus on the role that thinking plays in stress

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Life Stress TestDr. Tim LowensteinConscious
Living Foundation, P.O. Box 9, Drain, OR 97435

• In the past 12 months, which of the following
  major life events have taken place in your life?
• 1. Write down the score for each event.
• 2. Total up your score for each page.
• 3. Add up the points for each page.
• 4. Wait until everyone finishes.
• 5. We will make a distribution of scores
• http//www.cliving.org/lifstrstst.htm

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Page 1
______ Page 1 Score

• _____ Death of Spouse 100_____ Divorce
  73_____ Marital Separation 65_____ Jail Term
  63_____ Death of close family member 63_____
  Personal injury or illness 53_____ Marriage
  50_____ Fired from work 47_____ Marital
  reconciliation 45_____ Retirement 45_____
  Change in family member's health 44_____
  Pregnancy 40_____ Sex difficulties 39_____
  Addition to family 39_____ Business readjustment
  39

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Page 2
______ Page 2 Score

• _____ Change in financial status 38_____
  Death of close friend 37_____ Change to a
  different line of work 36_____ Change in number
  of marital arguments 35_____ Mortgage or loan
  over 10,000 31_____ Foreclosure of mortgage or
  loan 30_____ Change in work responsibilities
  29_____ Trouble with in-laws 29_____
  Outstanding personal achievement 28_____ Spouse
  begins or stops work 26_____ Starting or
  finishing school 26_____ Change in living
  conditions 25_____ Revision of personal habits
  24_____ Trouble with boss 23

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Page 3
______ Page 3 Score

• _____ Change in work hours, conditions
  20_____ Change in residence 20_____ Change in
  schools 20_____ Change in recreational habits
  19_____ Change in church activities 19_____
  Change in social activities 18_____ Mortgage or
  loan under 10,000 17_____ Change in sleeping
  habits 16_____ Change in number of family
  gatherings 15_____ Change in eating habits
  15_____ Vacation 13_____ Christmas season
  12_____ Minor violations of the law 11

______ Page 1 Score ______ Page 2 Score ______
Page 3 Score ______ Your Total Score
304 My score
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LIFE STRESS SCORES

• 0-149 Low susceptibility to stress-related
  illness
• Keep on keepin on!
• 150-299 Medium susceptibility to stress-related
  illness.
• Learn and practice relaxation and stress
  management skills and a healthy well life style.
• 300 up High susceptibility to stress-related
  illness
• Daily practice of relaxation skills is very
  important for your wellness. Take care of it now
  before a serious illness erupts or an affliction
  becomes worse.

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The Definition of Stress

• Stress is
• the physiological and psychological response to a
  condition that threatens or challenges the
  individual and requires some form of adaptation
  or adjustment.

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Fight or Flight?

• An early, classic contribution to stress research
  was made by Walter Cannon (1932), who described
  the fight-or-flight response.
• When an organism perceives a threat, the
  sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine
  glands prepare the body to fight the threat or
  flee from it.
• This fight-or-flight response helps the organism
  respond rapidly to threats.
• However, it is potentially harmful
• if an organism can't fight or flee
• experiences prolonged stress and continuing
  physical arousal.

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Hans Selye (19071982)

• Researcher most prominently associated with the
  effects of stress on health
• Established the field of stress research.
• Wrote several books including
• The Stress of Life
• Stress Sources, Management And Prevention
• Stress without Distress
• For a completely negative view of his research
  see http//earthsave.bc.ca/animalvoices/selye.htm

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General Adaption Syndrome

• Alarm
• Resistance
• Exhaustion

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General Adaption Syndrome

• Alarm
• The first stage of the general adaptation
  syndrome, when there is emotional arousal and the
  defensive forces of the body are prepared for
  fight or flight.
• Resistance
• Exhaustion

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General Adaption Syndrome

• Alarm
• Resistance
• The second stage of the general adaptation
  syndrome, when there are intense physiological
  efforts to either resist or adapt to the
  stressor.
• Exhaustion

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General Adaption Syndrome

• Alarm
• Resistance
• Exhaustion
• The final stage of the general adaptation
  syndrome, occurring if the organism fails in its
  efforts to resist the stressor.

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GAS diagram
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Criticisms of Selyes Theory Identified
Issues

• Thanks to Selye, the connection between extreme,
  prolonged stress and certain diseases is now
  widely accepted by medical experts
• Critics say Selyes model was primarily
  formulated from research on laboratory rats.
• Individual variation in rats stressors response
  is much less than individual variation in human
  stress responses.

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Criticisms of Selyes Theory A Missing
Cognitive Factor

• The major criticism Selyes claim that the
  intensity of the stressor determines the physical
  reaction to it.
• His theory does not provide for a psychological
  componenthow a person perceives and evaluates a
  stressor.
• This criticism led to the development of the
  cognitive theory of stress.

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Lazaruss Cognitive Theory of Stress

• In responding to the criticism of Selyes theory,
  Lazarus contends that it is not the stressor
  itself that causes stress, but a persons
  perception of the stressor.

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Lazaruss Cognitive Theory of Stress

• Causal Agent
• Stressor Evaluated
• Mind or Body uses coping process
• Stress reaction

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Lazaruss Cognitive Theory of Stress

• Causal Agent
• Can be either external or internal.
• Is commonly referred to as stress or the
  stressor.
• Stressor Evaluated
• Mind or Body uses coping process
• Stress reaction

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Lazaruss Cognitive Theory of Stress

• Causal Agent
• Stressor Evaluated
• the mind or the body evaluates the stressor
• as either threatening or benign.
• Mind or Body uses coping process
• Stress reaction

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Lazaruss Cognitive Theory of Stress

• Causal Agent
• Stressor Evaluated
• Mind or Body uses coping process
• to deal with the stressor.
• Stress reaction

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Lazaruss Cognitive Theory of Stress

• Causal Agent
• Stressor Evaluated
• Mind or Body uses coping process
• Stress reaction
• the complex pattern of effects on mind and body

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Lazarus Vs. Selye

• Lazarus
• Physiological psychological stress must be
  analyzed differently
• Focus on how people cope with psychological
  stressors
• Selyes
• Focus on how the body copes with physiological
  stress

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Lazarus and Folkmans Psychological Model of
Stress

• Lazarus and Folkman emphasize the importance of a
  persons perceptions and appraisal of stressors.
  The stress response depends on the outcome of the
  primary and secondary appraisals, whether the
  persons coping resources are adequate to cope
  with the threat, and how severely the resources
  are taxed in the process.
• Primary Appraisal
• Secondary Appraisal
• Stress Response

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Lazarus and Folkmans Psychological Model of
Stress

• There is research support for Lazarus and
  Folkmans claim that the physiological,
  emotional, and behavioral reactions to stressors
  depend partly on whether the stressors are
  appraised as challenging or threatening.
• Tomaka and others (1993) found
• Active coping with stressors appraised as
  challenging was associated with increased heart
  rate, better performance, and positive emotions.
• Active coping with stressors appraised as
  threatening was related to increased blood
  pressure, poorer performance, and negative
  emotional tone.

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Lazarus and Folkmans Psychological Model of
Stress

• Primary Appraisal
• Secondary Appraisal
• Stress Response

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Lazarus and Folkmans Psychological Model of
Stress

• Primary Appraisal
• an evaluation of meaning significance of a
  situation
• whether its effect on ones well-being is
• positive, irrelevant,
• harm or loss - damage that has already occurred
• threat, or challenge the potential for harm or
  loss
• challengethe opportunity to grow or to gain.
• can occur in relation to anything important to
  you
• a friendship, a part of your body, your property,
  your finances, or your self-esteem.
• Secondary Appraisal
• Stress Response

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Lazarus and Folkmans Psychological Model of
Stress

• Primary Appraisal
• Secondary Appraisal
• An evaluation of ones coping resources prior to
  deciding how to deal with a stressful event.
• if they judge the situation to be within their
  control
• they make an evaluation of available coping
  resources
• physical (health, energy, stamina)
• social (support network)
• psychological (skills, morale, self-esteem)
• material (money, tools, equipment)
• time.
• Then they consider the options and decide how to
  deal with the stressor.
• The level of stress they feel is largely a
  function of
• whether resources are adequate to cope with the
  threat
• how severely those resources will be taxed in the
  process.
• Stress Response

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Lazarus and Folkmans Psychological Model of
Stress

• Primary Appraisal
• Secondary Appraisal
• Stress Response

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Sources of Stress

• Everyday Sources
• Choices
• Unpredictability and Lack of Control
• The Stress of Being Different
• Stress in the Workplace
• Catastrophic Events and Chronic Intense Stress
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSD)

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Variables in Work Stress
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Coping With Stress

• Problem-focused coping
• Emotion-focused coping
• Proactive Coping

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Lazarus and Folkmans Psychological Model of
Stress
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Responding to Illness

• The Sick Role
• Reorganizing and Interpreting Symptoms
• Seek Treatment
• Compliance and Medical Treatment

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Health and Disease

• Coronary Heart Disease
• Type A and Type B Patterns
• Cancer
• Immune System
• T Cells and B Cells

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Personal Factors in Reducing Stress

• Optimism and Pessimism
• Psychological Hardiness
• Social Support

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Your Lifestyle and Stress

• Smoking
• Alcohol
• Exercise